EuroChangeMakers

The current pandemic context had a direct impact on the possibility of democratic participation of the citizens. Physical distancing measures remained in place in all EU Member States, including stay-at-home requirements, suspension of mass gatherings, and physical distancing when in public. Such measures affected many fundamental rights, including the rights to liberty and security (Article 6 of the Charter), respect for private and family life (Article 7), freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 10), freedom of expression and information (Article 11), freedom of assembly and of association (Article 12), freedom of the arts and sciences (Article 13), and freedom of movement and of residence (Article 45). They can also affect the rights of specific groups including children (Article 24), older persons (Article 25), and persons with disabilities (Article 26). Thus, the upcoming period of 2021-2022 becomes a critical point for the future of the European Union where citizens should gather, discuss, reflect, and get involved in critical issues for the European project: digitalization, environment, and social cohesion.

Objectives:

1. To engage over 300 citizens from all project participating countries in National civic hackathons aimed at discussing, reflecting and proposing concrete solutions for the future of Europe;
2. To create an informal network of 100 young EuropeanChangeMakers (ECM) from all project participating countries that are leading by example:

1. • engaging in civic debates,
   • showing European best practices in their region,
   • reaching out and consulting citizens, including the disadvantaged ones,
   • engaging in social media and
   • establishing a dialogue with the policymakers;

3. To organize a European civic hackathon gathering over 100 participants from all project participating countries aimed at discussing, reflecting, proposing concrete solutions for the future of Europe and presenting them to at least 100 European and National stakeholders in the format of a White Paper;
4. To publish and promote EuropeanChangeMakers platform fully embedded with the social media platforms, connected with the social media feeds of the #euroCM hashtag and having full aggregation functionality to bring together and display all the content created in the project: vlogs, opinions, regional best practices, solutions for the ‘Future of Europe’ and the ECM informal network.

Activities and responsibilities:

1. Kick-off meeting where one representative from each partner will take part;
2. National Civic Hackathons hosted by each partner for a minimum of:

1. • 20 participants, for countries having a population of fewer than 5 million inhabitants;
   • 25 participants, for countries having a population of 5-20 million inhabitants;
   • 30 participants, for countries having a population of over 20 million inhabitants.

3. From the National Civic Hackathons, the partners will select and nominate the young EuropeanChangeMakers (ECM), each partner will nominate a minimum of 3 and maximum 10 ECM, depending on the country population (a similar system with the EP Apportionment).
4. With the support of the nominated ECM, the following outputs will be delivered and published on their own social media by each partner (having the #euroCM and other relevant hashtags for aggregation purposes):

1. • Videos showing that ECMs are engaging with citizens from various backgrounds discussing relevant topics for the future of Europe (min 10 persons reached/ECM);
   • Social media posts showing details and interviews about EU supported initiatives in their region (min 3 posts/ECM);
   • Opinions about the future of Europe and the current European challenges (min 3 posts/ECM);

5. To support the participation of their nominated ECMs in the European civic hackathon;
6. To feed the ECM platform with the following:

• • Creating a country page with a translation of the project summary in the national language;
  • A contact person representing the partner (Project Responsible);
  • Details about the National Hackathon participants;
  • Profile photo, name, contacts for the ECM nominated;
  • Nominating 5 National stakeholders and 2 European stakeholders to disseminate the White paper.